The summer of 1974.  I was 5 years old, and for a moment, the world was exactly as it should be.

 

    Spending time with Dad was one of my favorite places to be, but only when the air was clear, when he was sober, and when he wasn't mad at me.  On this day, the 1968 Navy Blue Step Side GMC pickup became my sanctuary.

 

    I remember the sun glinting off those metal flecks in the paint as I sat behind the wheel.  I couldn't see the ground, but on occasion, the grass was tall enough that I saw it above the hood just before it was eaten up by the massive bumper.  I couldn't see where the road led, but I didn't have to.  I could see the peak of my Grandma's house over the steering wheel.

 

    Dad looked over at me and gave me the only direction I needed: "Follow the peak, and it will take us all the way home."

 

    In a life that wasn't always peaceful, that drive was my first lesson in faith.  You don't have to see the whole road; all you have to do is find the "peek" and keep the wheels straight.

 

    I wasn't just experiencing a driving lesson; I was learning the same lesson that Peter learned on the Sea of Galilee.  In Matthew 14, Peter stepped out of the boat and into the storm.  As long as he kept his eyes locked on Jesus, he did the impossible-he walked on top of the very thing that should have drowned him.  The moment he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the wind and the waves, he started to sink.

 

    My grandma's roof was my "Jesus" that day.  Dad was telling me, "Don't look at the floorboards.  Don't look at the dust.  Don't look at fear.  Just lock your eyes on the peak."

 

    Life still feels like that, GMC sometimes.  The "waves" of the past try to distract my eyes from the horizon, but the command remains the same:   Stop.  Breathe.  Focus.  Fix your eyes on the One who leads you home.

 

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink.  He cried out, ' Lord, save me!'"~ Matthew 14:30